WhatsApp trying to force users to accept new policy before data protection law comes: Centre to HC
New Delhi, Jun 3: WhatsApp on Thursday said it will not limit the functionality of the messaging app for users not agreeing to its new privacy policy, but will continue to send reminders about the update.
WhatsApp said its recent policy update does not change the privacy of people's personal messages, and it has already written to the government seeking to assure them that the privacy of users remains its highest priority.
On Thursday, the Centre has told the Delhi High Court that the messaging platform was trying to "force" its users to consent to the new privacy policy before the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill becomes the law by bombarding them with notifications daily to obtain their consent.
"We reiterate that we have already responded to the Government of India and assured them that the privacy of users remains our highest priority, a WhatsApp spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
A raging debate had ensued earlier this year after WhatsApp said it will update its terms of service and privacy policy around how it processes user data and partners with Facebook to offer integrations across the social media giant's products.
The Facebook-owned company has insisted that its contentious privacy policy will not limit the functionality of how WhatsApp works in the coming weeks.
Instead, we will continue to remind users from time to time about the update as well as when people choose to use relevant optional features, like communicating with a business that is receiving support from Facebook, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson further noted that the recent update does not change the privacy of people's personal messages and that its purpose is to provide additional information about how people can interact with businesses if they choose to do so.
We hope this approach reinforces the choice that all users have whether or not they want to interact with a business. We will maintain this approach until at least the forthcoming PDP law comes into effect, the spokesperson said.
Terming WhatsApp's bombarding of notifications on its customers as an "anti-user practice" for obtaining "trick consent", the central government on Thursday urged the court to direct the messaging platform to desist from pushing notifications onto its existing users with regard to the new privacy policy.
The Centre's claim has been made in an additional affidavit filed in response to several pleas challenging the new privacy policy of WhatsApp.
WhatsApp -- which has 53 crore users in India as per the government data -- had faced severe backlash over user concerns that data was being shared with parent company Facebook.
Interestingly, the new rules for social media companies have also come into effect from the last month that mandate large platforms like Facebook and Twitter to undertake greater due diligence and make these digital platforms more accountable and responsible for the content hosted by them.
The rules also require significant social media intermediaries - providing services primarily in the nature of messaging - to enable identification of the "first originator" of the information that undermines the sovereignty of India, the security of the state, or public order. This could have major ramifications for players like Twitter and WhatsApp.
The new IT rules require significant social media intermediaries - those with other 50 lakh users - to appoint a grievance officer, nodal officer and a chief compliance officer. These personnel are required to be resident in India.
Under the new rules, social media companies will have to take down flagged content within 36 hours, and remove within 24 hours content that is flagged for nudity, pornography etc. The Centre had said the new rules are designed to prevent abuse and misuse of platforms, and offer users a robust forum for grievance redressal.
Non-compliance with the rules would result in these platforms losing their intermediary status that provides them immunity from liabilities over any third-party data hosted by them. In other words, they could be liable for criminal action in case of complaints.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
US service member missing after Iran shot down fighter jet rescued
Washington (AP): A US service member who had been missing since Iran shot down a fighter jet has been rescued, President Donald Trump wrote in a social media post early Sunday.
The crew member had been missing since Friday, when Iran downed a US F-15E Strike Eagle. A second crew member was rescued earlier.
Trump wrote that the aviator is injured but “will be just fine,” adding that he took refuge “on the treacherous mountains of Iran.”
Trump added that the rescue involved “dozens of aircraft” and that US had been monitoring his location “24 hours a day, and diligently planning for his rescue.”
The war began with joint US-Israel strikes on February 28 and has killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices. Both sides have threatened, and hit, civilian targets, bringing warnings of possible war crimes.
The fighter jet was the first US aircraft to have crashed in Iranian territory since the conflict in late February.
Trump said last week that the US had “decimated” Iran and would finish the war “very fast.”
Two days later, Iran shot down two US military planes, showing the ongoing perils of the bombing campaign and the ability of a degraded Iranian military to continue to hit back.
The other jet to go down was a US A-10 attack aircraft. Neither the status of the crew nor exactly where it crashed was immediately known.
A frantic US search-and-rescue operation unfolded after the crash of the F-15E jet on Friday, focusing on a mountainous region in Iran's southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.
Iran also promised a reward for anyone who turned in the “enemy pilot.” Iran's joint military command on Saturday said that it also struck two US Black Hawk helicopters Friday, but The Associated Press couldn't independently verify that.
